After 50 years of proposals, and numerous fits and starts, the island of Sicily will finally be linked to the mainland of Italy — if all goes to plan this time.
The Italian transport and infrastructure minister, Matteo Salvini, announced Wednesday that the government had approved a project to build a two-mile bridge that will connect Sicily to the mainland. The project is expected to cost about $15.6 billion.
The suspended single-span bridge, which would be the longest of the kind in the world, would handle both road vehicles and trains, and would link the towns of Messina in Sicily and Villa San Giovanni in Calabria.
In 2011, a less costly project to build a bridge was canceled by Italian lawmakers because of concerns over its price tag — about $7 billion at the time — and questions about whether it was needed. The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni revived plans for the construction of a bridge in 2023, and a government planning committee on Wednesday approved the project announced by Mr. Salvini.
The plan has met a range of opposition, including from residents who fear they will be forced to leave their homes to make way for construction, from opposition parties and from environmental groups. Whether that opposition can stop or delay the project remains to be seen.
Webuild, the Italian company heading the consortium tasked with building the bridge, said in a statement that the link would be a “catalyst for investment in Southern Italy,” generating jobs in an area where employment rates are relatively low.
Concerns have been raised about the environmental impact of the huge construction project, which would take years to complete. Fears have also been expressed about organized crime groups becoming involved in the project through dummy companies. Both Sicily and Reggio Calabria — the two southern regions involved — have deeply rooted local Mafia cultures.
Critics also pointed out that the bridge would be built in an area prone to earthquakes. In 1908, a devastating quake struck Messina, killing about half of the population as 90 percent of the city’s buildings collapsed.
This year, the Italian General Confederation of Labor, the country’s largest union, wrote to the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, with concerns about the project, citing “serious technical, environmental, regulatory and social-critical issues.”
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
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